Tory waste watch #1: What are they wasting our money on?

For a government that claims to be all about saving the public finances, the Tories don’t mind wasting taxpayers’ money on pet projects and ideological fixations. This occasional series will track some of their most flagrant wastes of public money. Austerity, what austerity?

Universal Credit

Like any long-running disaster, Universal Credit, Iain Duncan Smith’s ‘flagship’ welfare reform, seems to have been around forever. For a government that came to power vowing to avoid the mistakes that bedevilled some of new Labour’s big IT projects, Universal Credit has had it all: stories of miserably low staff moral behind the scenes, changes in key personnel, spiralling costs, expensive computer systems that don’t work, changing project specifications, missed deadlines, and so on.

George Osborne has been busy recently flogging-off bits of the UK to China. One deal above all the others highlights the dodgy nature of these deals: Hinkley Point.

The nuclear power station itself is a bad deal. Hinkley Point will be the most expensive power plant in the world, costing at least £24 billion. State-owned China General Nuclear Power has taken a third share of the ownership of Hinkley (also raising security concerns), with the French company EDF owning the rest.

The problem is that Hinkley will need massive subsidies to pay for it, lasting until 2060. And those subsidies will come from us. Households and businesses will have to pay £92.50 per MW hour for Hinkley electricity over 35 years (this will also rise with inflation over the period), compared with a current wholesale price of £40 (at the same time, the Government is slashing support for solar energy by 87%). Of course, even if Hinkley was a good idea, we (via government) could have just borrowed the money cheaply – but that would have challenged the Government’s commitment to the appearance of austerity.

Free schools

With the Conservative’s re-election victory, the free schools programme rolls on. So far 305 have opened, with 116 more in development. The Government hopes to launch 500 in the course of this Parliament. But according to a damning report last year by the Public Accounts Committee, the Government spent £240 million on free schools in areas with no shortages.

They’re not cheap either. Free schools received 60% more funding per pupil than local authority primaries and secondaries in the latest financial year, according to analysis by the Guardian of Department for Education data. Moreover, some free schools catering for children with behavioural difficulties have received more than £100,000 per pupil in 2013-14 (local authority special schools received only £22,000 per pupil), with the two highest-funded given £430,000 a pupil each (more than 10 times the fees of Britain’s most expensive private boarding schools). Despite this, they also tend to be exclusive; according to the Institute of Education, free schools take fewer poor children than other local schools. The original budget for free schools was £450 million; by 2013 the National Audit Office said the scheme would cost £1.5 billion, with the average cost per school twice what the Government had assumed.

Renewing Trident

The Government is gung-ho about replacing the Trident missile system (submarines, missiles and warheads). David Cameron recommitted the Tories to it in his conference speech. The Government has put the bill at £15-20 billion. More than £3 billion will be spent in ‘preparations’ for the final decision, nearly £300 million more than predicted by the Ministry of Defence. The real cost, factoring in not only replacing the submarines but also replacement warheads, running costs and decommissioning the current system, is estimated at an astonishing £100 billion (assuming it doesn’t overrun of course).

It’s been noted that this would be enough to fully fund A&E services for 40 years, employ 150,000 new nurses, build 1.5 million affordable homes or 30,000 new primary schools, or cover tuition fees for 4 million students. But those things we apparently can’t afford. Trident is a massively expensive (and dangerous) status symbol. It can’t do anything about the real national security threats we face: terrorism, climate change or cyber warfare. It’s the ‘independent nuclear deterrent’ which is neither independent nor a deterrent.

Selling off public assets on the cheap

In August, George Osborne wasted more than £1 billion of our money selling off the first tranche of shares in the Royal Bank of Scotland, in the face of criticism from politicians and bemusement from City analysts. Around 60% of the shares were bought by hedge funds (it’s pure coincidence of course that hedge funds were major donors to the Tory Party for their election victory). The £2.1 billion of shares were sold at 330p – well below the average 502p that the taxpayer paid for them.

Next up: flogging shares in Lloyds at a discount. This follows the selling off of Royal Mail, again probably wasting £1 billion, along with many other assets that the public invested in for years.

There are plenty of other Tory wastes of money we could mention – stuffing the bloated House of Lords with more Conservative peers, protecting benefits for older Conservative voters, tax cuts for higher earners, the EU referendum…

In a month’s time, George Osborne will announce the results of the Government’s comprehensive spending review. Listen for how many times he boasts that the Tories are making the difficult decisions necessary to restore the public finances.

I like the helpful info you provide in your articles. I’ll bookmark your weblog and check again here frequently. I am quite certain I will learn a lot of new stuff right here! Best of luck for the next!

There are some interesting time limits on this article however I don’t know if I see all of them middle to heart. There’s some validity however I will take hold opinion until I look into it further. Good article , thanks and we wish more! Added to FeedBurner as nicely

Hello are using WordPress for your blog platform? I’m new to the blog world but I’m trying to get started and set up my own. Do you require any html coding expertise to make your own blog? Any help would be really appreciated!

I’m truly enjoying the design and layout of your site. It’s a very easy on the eyes which makes it much more enjoyable for me to come here and visit more often. Did you hire out a designer to create your theme? Superb work!

Simply want to say your article is as astounding. The clarity for your submit is just excellent and that i can assume you are a professional on this subject. Well with your permission let me to snatch your RSS feed to keep updated with approaching post. Thanks one million and please continue the gratifying work.

I really like your blog.. very nice colors & theme. Did you create this website yourself or did you hire someone to do it for you? Plz reply as I’m looking to construct my own blog and would like to know where u got this from. thank you

Woah! I’m really enjoying the template/theme of this website. It’s simple, yet effective. A lot of times it’s very difficult to get that “perfect balance” between usability and visual appeal. I must say you have done a great job with this. In addition, the blog loads very quick for me on Internet explorer. Superb Blog!

I arrived right here from some other web address on mobdro for windows and considered I may as well read this. I really like what I see thus now I”m following you. Looking forward to checking out the website again.

I actually came over here via another page related to facetime android and imagined I may as well look at this. I adore the things I see therefore now I”m following you. Looking forward to looking over the site yet again.

You are completely correct. I enjoyed reading this and I will certainly get back for more as soon as possible. Our website is on the subject of kodi download, you might take a peek if you happen to be interested in this.

Howdy just wanted to give you a brief heads up and let you know a few of the images aren’t loading properly. I’m not sure why but I think its a linking issue. I’ve tried it in two different internet browsers and both show the same results.

That is very fascinating, You are a very professional blogger. I’ve joined your rss feed and look forward to looking for extra of your fantastic post. Also, I have shared your web site in my social networks!

Deals For Desert Safari With years of experience behind our backs, PhoenixDesertSafariTours.com offers a portion of the best desert safari deals and installment alternatives to the greater part of its esteemed clients. Furnished with rich 4×4 vehicles and expert drivers

You can get plenty of desert safari deals from us which will help you plan your trip without any hassles at all. All you have to do is select the deal that fits your budget from below and we will classic take care of the rest. The best part is you can not only get the best deals nice for the ride

I personally arrived over here via some other web page relating to facetime android app and thought I might check this out. I enjoy the things I see therefore now I”m following you. Getting excited about exploring the blog yet again.

Aw, this was a actually nice post. In concept I would like to put in writing like this furthermore – taking time and actual effort to make a really excellent article… but what can I say… I procrastinate alot and by no means seem to obtain one thing carried out.

Hello! I understand this is kind of off-topic however I needed to ask. Does running a well-established website such as yours take a massive amount work? I’m brand new to writing a blog however I do write in my diary everyday. I’d like to start a blog so I will be able to share my own experience and views online. Please let me know if you have any suggestions or tips for brand new aspiring bloggers. Thankyou!

Aw, this was a really nice post. In thought I want to put in writing like this moreover – taking time and precise effort to make a very good article… however what can I say… I procrastinate alot and not at all appear to get something done.

Have you ever thought about including a little bit more than just your articles? I mean, what you say is important and all. However imagine if you added some great graphics or video clips to give your posts more, “pop”! Your content is excellent but with images and clips, this site could certainly be one of the greatest in its field. Terrific blog!

It was wonderful reading this info and I feel you’re completely correct. Inform me in case you are looking into best books to attract women, that’s my major expertise. I hope to hear from you soon, bye for now!

I was discussing with a friend of my own around this article and even about garageband download windows as well. I do think you made a number of great points on this page, we are excited to continue reading material from you.

Hi! I know this is kind of off topic but I was wondering if you knew where I could find a captcha plugin for my comment form? I’m using the same blog platform as yours and I’m having problems finding one? Thanks a lot!

My spouse and I definitely like your site and find the majority of your posts to be exactly what I am searching for. Would you offer guest writers to post content material for you? I wouldn’t mind publishing a piece of text relating to mobile number tracker with name or even on some of the subjects you are writing about on this website. Cool place!